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State police assisting in Hanscom plane crash investigation

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The site of a plane crash is seen in the distance, across Hanscom Field in Bedford, Sunday. The co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, Lewis Katz, was killed along with six other people in a fiery plane crash Saturday night.
(MICHAEL DWYER/ ASSOCIATED PRESS)

BEDFORD – A half-dozen units from the State Police are currently assisting the investigation of Saturday night’s plane crash scene at Hanscom Airfield which killed seven people.

The private plane was headed to Atlantic City at about 9:40 p.m., when it ran off the runway and burst into flames.

Officials have not released the names of all the plane’s passengers, but have confirmed Lewis Katz, 72, co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, was among those killed. Also on board was Anne Leeds, 74, the wife of Longport, N.J. Commissioner James P. Leeds.

In total there were four passengers, two flight crew and a cabin crew member on the plane when it crashed.

The State Police has sent troopers from Troop F for scene security, the Air Wing for aerial photographs and coverage, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, Dive Team to search a body of water for any articles from the wreckage, the Crime Scene Services Section and Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, officials said in a written release.

The troopers assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office are assisting the National Transportation Safety Board with the investigation. Also assisting on scene is MassPort, FBI, Bedford Police, Fire & EMS Departments, the statement said.

“We’re still at the very beginning stages of the investigation,” NTSB lead investigator Luke Schiada told reporters Sunday afternoon.

Schiada said responders were focused on removing remains from the wreckage and locating the plane’s cockpit recorders. Investigators will also consult surveillance footage and interview witnesses as the week continues, according to the statement.